Under Comet's Tale: Evil Taming Evil
by Higuchimon
Summary: It's time for Haou to acquire the Evil Heroes. But do they want to be acquired?


**Collection Title:** Under Comet's Tale||**Title:** Evil Taming Evil  
**Characters:** Juudai, Evil Heroes||**Ship:** N/A  
**Collection:** 5-6||**Story:** 1-1||**Words:** 3,093  
**Genre:** Drama||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing, GX canon, I24, 1-shot collection centering around 1 person: Juudai  
**Notes:** Again, during Juudai's rule over Dark World.  
**Summary:** It's time for Haou to acquire the Evil Heroes. But do they want to be acquired?

* * *

Golden Pegasus wasn't a servant. Golden Pegasus was transportation. At least that was what Golden Pegasus told Juudai when he made arrangements to depart from his castle and locate the hidden village of the Evil Heroes.

"If they're going to complain because you didn't walk every step of the way, then destroy them. Don't let them set the rules. You are _Haou_. You rule this world and you're giving them the chance to help you do it. If they don't know that, then teach them. Now get on." Golden Pegasus stamped one hoof, his tail swishing magnificently as he stared at his liege.

Juudai considered that for only a few moments before he indicated for one of the local stable-hands to bring the saddle and other equipment. Golden Pegasus brought his own gear when he'd arrived at the castle, bluntly announcing that he would carry Haou-sama anywhere that he needed to go.

Once the riding gear had all been cinched into place, Haou swung himself into the saddle. He'd never ridden any sort of horse before coming here and didn't bother questioning why he could do it now. If he thought on it too hard, his head ached, and he had enough issues without starting a migraine.

He knew the stallion wasn't the most offensive of warriors, but Golden Pegasus did have the advantage of flight. If anything happened, he would be able to get out of there quicker than almost anyone else, and take Haou with him.

So now Haou soared over the land, watching for the landmarks that indicated his destination, and circling the area where his targets waited for his arrival, knowingly or not. He could feel the Elemental Heroes in his deck; they weren't very happy but they weren't protesting. Maybe they knew better, after seeing what he'd done to the Neo-Spacians.

He didn't like his deck being upset with him, since his bond with it meant his ability to win duels in this world was at risk. But they weren't protesting and so far they hadn't really let him down.

He put those thoughts to the side as Golden Pegasus landed in front of what seemed like a long stretch of pale, shadow-dappled woodlands. A tiny stream rippled through the area, with random rocks poking up here and there through the ground. To the ordinary eye it seemed bland and uninteresting. None of the trees carried the slightest bit of fruit, and at best might have served for shade or firewood. The stream might have fish in it – he didn't feel even the slightest urge to check – but given how slender it was, he doubted it.

Golden Pegasus leaned forward, dipping one wing to allow him to dismount. "This is it," he murmured. "Best of luck, Haou-sama."

Haou stood straight, tugging his cape around himself before he strode a handful of steps forward, the corners of his mouth turned downward. He wanted to deal with this as soon as he could.

"Evil Heroes," he declared, voice echoing faintly from the surrounding territory. The words tumbled forth naturally, as if he'd been born to come here and claim them. "I am Haou. I've chosen you to add to my deck."

Nothing but silence responded at all. Haou's eyes narrowed. He'd not come here to be ignored. Shadows curled and danced around, then lashed forward to a place some distance in front of him, cracking against something that he couldn't see.

But not seeing it didn't mean it wasn't there, and he sent the shadows to strike again. A huge booming sound resonated, then a sudden crack whistled around. Haou could see something now. It required more attention, but something hung broken in front of him.

A gate. He stared harder at it and then called on the shadows once again, now to slide themselves in between the gates to grip and twist. A little more effort resulted in the gates shattering, torn wide apart, and tossed to the side.

He wasn't certain on how he was able to do this, but he wasn't sure if he cared. He vaguely recalled a few words the Neo-Spacians said back when he first met them, but he wasn't sure if that really applied here. It could just be this world.

Anyway. He could do it. He'd done it. Now he moved forward to cross into the area hidden by the gates. Golden Pegasus stood where he was, but Haou clearly heard him chuckling under his breath. If he hadn't wanted to get this done, he would have wanted to know what was so amusing.

He saw them the moment that he crossed the threshold of the gate. One moment they weren't there, the next he crossed and there they stood. One of them stood to the forefront – a female monster, garbed all in red and black, but not quite like Burst Lady.

"Evil Heroes." His gaze rested on each one for a few seconds.

The one in the front tilted her head forward. It wasn't much of a salute as it as a mild sort of acknowledgment of his existence.

"Haou." Her gaze flicked over him before turning away to her companions, the faintest of quirks to one eyebrow. Whatever silent question she asked, Haou didn't care. He'd come here for a purpose.

"I want your cards. You'll be a part of my deck."

The first of the Evil Heroes moved forward a single step. "Is that so, Haou-sama?" Her lips curved into a quick smile, her words laced with mocking laughter. "I would ask that you duel us to convince us, but we would rather not die – or kill you."

Haou brought his shoulders up high and strong. "There are more ways than one to fight." He didn't wait for another second. He'd presumed all along that he would have to do something of this sort before he managed to claim the Evil Heroes.

Again the shadows darted forward, this time cracking across the one who stood before him. She spread her wings and leaped into the skies, avoiding his attack before it could contact. She spun a heartbeat later and feathers flashed forward, striking at him.

He let them. His armor protected him and he hadn't yet lifted his visor. Those feathers that struck the ground and rocks sent up shards of stone that would've torn into him if he'd been unarmored. Again his shadows surged, this time coiling forward to wrap around the Evil Hero, or attempting to. Again she swooped out of range.

Haou needed to think fast. The shadows twisted and he sent them arching down to the other Evil Heroes. They scattered quickly, some more than others, and he just managed to catch one or two of the dozen who stood there. He tightened the grip to the point that they cried out, and wondered at how he'd rather enjoyed that.

A shriek of rage caught his attention and he looked up in time to see the first Evil Hero diving toward him and another one – a slender blue-armored one with two sets of sharp viscous claws – charging over the ground. In the space of a heartbeat Haou caused the shadows to surge up, wrapping around these attackers, too fast for them to get out of it this time, given how hard they focused on trying to get to him.

This wasn't all of them by any means. The ones he hadn't yet caught milled a little farther back, murmuring to one another. None of what Haou could hear assured him they planned to do anything pleasant.

That didn't surprise him, either. They wouldn't be easily tamed. Haou realized perhaps a bit belatedly that he liked that. He'd never fought like this before to get a deck or an addition to his deck. Before, he'd just.. picked the cards from a pile of purchased packs. Or he'd met them in Neo-Space and they'd joined his deck willingly.

But not like this.

"You call this a fight, Haou?" The first evil Hero demanded. "Not allowing us to fight back?"

Haou didn't bother to smile. He wasn't in the mood for it. Not that he ever was anymore. Instead, he stared at this creature, eyes bright as twin suns.

"You'll be a part of my deck. I've chosen you." He waited no more, but crashed every one of them that he'd captured as hard as he could against the ground, before calling on the shadows stretching before him to strike those Evil Heroes who hadn't yet been caught, sending them spiraling against the rocks and trees he could see there.

He could hear the cries of pain and murmurs of agony and paid them no attention. These were _Evil_ Heroes. This was the language that they understood.

Step by step he moved farther into their village, eyes flicking around, a sudden thought occurring to him before he released all of the Evil Heroes. The moment the first one caught her breath, she surged towards him. Haou stopped that with a look, before he turned his gaze onto the village he could see here.

_If they don't have anywhere else to go, they'll come to me._

A simple, very effective plan. He'd used it before in other places. He'd never done it alone before, but now it seemed like the easiest of actions to have the shadows within each cottage rise up and begin to rip the places apart from the inside out. Moment by moment the shadows reached out to one another, joining together and shattering the village until there wasn't anything left of them.

This happened so fast that there wasn't any time for the Evil Heroes themselves to react. Haou didn't want them to react – only to see what he was capable of doing and what he'd done.

As the noise from shattered stone died off, replaced by most chilling silence, the Evil Heroes stopped moving. Haou stared at them in silence, waiting for what he knew was coming next.

"I am Evil Hero Inferno Wing," she said at last, bending her head with far more respect than ever before. "We've been aware of your presence since you entered this world." Her eyes met his directly. "Yuuki Juudai."

Haou pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Don't call me that." He didn't need to hear that name ever again. Yuuki Juudai spent his time fooling around and got almost all of his friends killed. Haou wasn't going to do that. Haou didn't have friends and the ones that had been his friends wouldn't like him anymore.

Which wasn't going to stop him from protecting them no matter what. That brought it all back to claiming the Evil Heroes for himself anyway.

Inferno Wing bent her head again. "As you say. But you wish our deck. You do have Elemental Heroes. We can feel them."

Again he bent his head. He didn't bother to mention the Neo-Spacians.

Inferno Wing gestured to herself. "I am the result of a combination of Elemental Hero Featherman and Elemental Hero Burst Lady." She indicated another one. "This is Evil Hero Infernal Sniper, created from Elemental Hero Clayman and Burst Lady." The one with blue armor and claws subjected himself next. "This is Evil Hero Malicious Edge."

She introduced the others – Evil Hero Hell Brat, Evil Hero Dark Gaia, Evil Hero Hell Gainer, and several others, almost all of them the twisted mirror images of the Elemental Heroes that he knew. Each of them slowly and reluctantly knelt before him, murmuring his title.

"There are other cards that you'll need for us to work with your deck," Evil Hero Inferno Wing told him. She tugged a small stack of cards from somewhere underneath her armor. "This, especially, will be the key card of your new deck."

He looked to see a fusion card he'd never seen before: Dark Fusion. Power seethed through it; not quite on the same level of Super Fusion, though. Super Fusion's power resonated with the sense of all the lives that pulsed into it. Dark Fusion's energy was something else altogether, the feel of darkness.

Haou took the cards and added them all to his deck. He would have to sort through them to get a feel for the way this new deck would work and to consider his new strategies.

"We did have someone for you to fight," Inferno Wing said at last. "But I think you had other plans."

Haou didn't think he actually smiled. It came a little close, though. As close as he ever came. "Who?"

"This."

Inferno Wing held out one more card to him, face-down. Haou accepted it, staring at it for a breath before he turned it over, wondering who their champion might be.

What he saw startled him. It had been weeks – maybe even close to months – since he'd seen this face. There were differences, of course. The one that he remembered had been mature and wise, with blond hair and warm eyes, even when he was at his sternest.

The one that he saw now had blue-tinted skin and brilliant scarlet eyes, hands with long, sharp claws, white hair, and armor of black and gold instead of silver and gold, the cloak a darker shade of green.

But the name written across the top was heartrendingly familiar.

_Freed_.

Dark General Freed, not the Brave Wanderer. There was a difference of age, but enough similarities so that Haou could see one in the other. His breath caught in his throat as he touched the card.

But there wasn't a spirit there at all. He raised his eyes to meet those of Inferno Wing.

"He's not there."

"So I've noticed." Inferno Wing's lips wrinkled in a gesture that wasn't any more of a smile than his own. "One of the other reasons he couldn't fight for us. But the card itself turned up when Hell Brat traded for some cards a few weeks ago – before you came to this world. There were others that you might find useful as well."

That got a bit of a quirked eyebrow of his own. Inferno Wing cleared her throat in an imperious fashion and slowly folk began to gather, emerging from the mountain rising behind the ruined village. He recognized quite a few of them.

Dark Elf – perhaps Heather would want to speak with her. Dark Valkyria – perhaps she'd make a good scout or spy, with those metallic wings. She resembled Yubel as well, and Haou didn't want her anywhere around for that alone. There was also a huge feathered creature that he learned later was Darkness Simorgh, kin to Simorgh, Bird of Divinity, that Birdman used against him.

He'd not forgotten Birdman's final words to him. They seared into his mind as much as Shou's did, if only for different reasons.

The three of them all made their obeisance to him and he nodded. It would be quite pleasant to bring these back with him.

Though his eyes kept drifting back to the card without a spirit and he wondered time and time again what would happen if the card's spirit found it. Or perhaps found him.

_I don't think it's possible. Freed's dead. At least the one that I know is._

He put the card away before he turned back towards Golden Pegasus. "Let's go," was all he said.

One by one the Evil Heroes vanished, sliding into the space wherever card spirits who had a duelist lived when they weren't in a duel. Dark Elf leaped aboard Darkness Simorgh, while Dark Valkyria joined the black-feathered bird in the air.

"Think you can keep up?" Golden Pegasus taunted as he spread his wings. Haou didn't reprimand him; Golden Pegasus hadn't had to carry him here and wait for him. That earned him a perk or two.

Dark Valkyria's wings twitched in a clatter of steel and a quick smile flickered over her lips. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"Nor do I," Darkness Simorgh agreed.

"I do. Because I know where I'm going and you have to follow me," Golden Pegasus teased – after he'd already leaped into the air. He pumped his wings and soared forward, the other two following as quick as they could.

Haou wouldn't have allowed such frivolity but other thoughts occupied him for now. The presence of the Evil Heroes in his deck gave him something more to think about. How were they and the Elemental Heroes getting along? Had the Elemental Heroes ever known the Evil Heroes existed? They'd never known about the Destiny Heroes, or at least not mentioned them, or the alternate fusions.

He didn't think he'd ever asked, really. What didn't he know because he didn't know what or who to ask?

Should he try to figure that out or should he just do as he'd always done, barreling ahead to plow through all of the obstacles in his path? So far he knew that hadn't worked too well. It led to everything he had to deal with now.

He'd work through it later. When he didn't have so much to do and so much to worry about. When he'd crushed every scrap of resistance to his rule in this world and no one dared to do anything that he'd not granted permission for.

When it came to the myriad of matters that he didn't want to think about, the point of this new Freed came first and foremost. It upset virtually everything else that he chose to ignore so very much – such as where Yubel might be, if they still existed at all, let alone where Shou, Jim, and O'Brien wandered off to, or the true nature of his powers and if he'd ever return to Earth.

That last one he'd already decided he never would. How could he face anyone that he knew there without the ones that he'd lost?

Instead he kept his mind on what he'd gained. The Evil Heroes. Three new servants that he could assign to important positions.

Yet of all that he acquired on this trip, it was Freed that refused to slip out of his mind the most. He told himself that it meant nothing; any attraction was only because of his experience with Freed the Brave Wanderer – the warrior who for the briefest of moments stood by him to defeat Zure.

He couldn't shake the feeling that while there wasn't a soul in that card, the spirit of Dark General Freed wasn't all that far away, waiting for the chance to arrive.

* * *

**The End**

**Notes:** So, next week, the last story of the set. The arrival of Dark General Freed. And perhaps an explanation on where he went so that he wasn't around when O'Brien, Ryou, Edo, and Shou stormed the castle.


End file.
